The Poas Volcano / Waterfall Garden Park / Sarapiqui River Circle Route (10 hours)
Due to the recent earthquake on January 8th, this drive tour needs to be altered since the road between about Buena Vista and Carrizal has been destroyed. You will need to find a more westernly route through that area, however it should still be doable and will likely take two full days of driving.
Roads are pretty good the whole way, and you will experience several different mini-climatic zones on this circle route. Leave Adventure Inn early once again to take advantage of the best time of day to experience Poas Volcano. Head north through Heredia, driving basically uphill and look for road signs with a volcano picture which will lead you up the interior mountain slopes past coffee plantations and thousands of acres of ornamental flowers that are exported all over the world. It is a pleasant drive, passing little villages splashed over the landscape, each with views down into the Central Valley, and the Escazu Mountains beyond. As you approach 2704 meter high Poas Volcano, the temperature will noticeably fall, and you will be happy you remembered your waterproof windbreaker.
Admission is $7 at the gate, then park your car. Poas has the second largest volcano crater in the world. It's an easy kilometer walk along a paved path through the dense original-growth cloud forest to a lookout area peering over the cratorial expanse, deceivingly a mile across and a quarter mile deep. Far below is the bubbling and smoking pool and the very occasional geyser shooting muddy water high into the air. The last major blow out was in 1953 which created the crater you see today. In 1989 the park was briefly closed after a small eruption blew volcanic ash a kilometer in the air. Recently, there has been no imminent threats, but more will come in geologic terms. The sheer vastness of the lifeless area helps you to imagine the power of an eruption. Another forested trail leads you to a lookout over beautiful Botos Lake, formed in the basin of an extinct crater. Before leaving, visit the information center with an informative little volcano display, videos every hour, and photos and footprints of a variety of indigenous animals. There is a pretty good souvenir store, and an excuse for a restaurant with outstanding hot chocolate.
Descend back down the same road for about fifteen kilometers until you reach a t- intersection, and turn left heading towards the mountain village of Varablanca. Six kilometers past Varablanca you will see La Paz Waterfall Garden Park on the left side. Though the $22 admission is a little steep, it is beautifully done. They claim to have the world's largest butterfly farm, an orchids garden with a sampling of the fourteen hundred indigenous species to Costa Rica, and a funny hummingbird station with all sorts of the little guys zipping in and out sampling the sugar water. But the main reason you are here is for the trail that leads through the dense primary and secondary forest to the top of a series of very high raging waterfalls as part of Rio La Paz (Peace River) that blast their way down the lower reaches of Barva Volcano creating a loud racket and drizzle-filled winds. Follow the wet trail down along the sides of the stepped waterfalls with the occasional place to stop, look and take photos (dry your lens first). At the bottom of the park you reach the road, and realize one of the advantages of taking a tour bus is that you don't have to walk back up to the main lodge. Forget eating there as the $11 buffet lacks imagination. Souvenirs are also expensive, and you have already dropped enough money in this private park. Don't spend more than two hours, there's still lots to do today.
Back in your car, continue down the Cordillera Central mountain range and bottom out at the beginning of the Northern Plains that stretch north to Nicaragua and east to the Caribbean. Enjoy the beautiful scenery, as the road twists and undulates through thousands of acres of banana, pineapple and palm plantations. You will pass through several little hamlets exuding the laid back vida tipica, typical life in the countryside. Follow the main road through San Miguel, La Virgen, Chilamate and stop in Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui. Head down to the town dock on the bank of the Sarapiqui River, and jump on a boat already hired by another group, or hire your own boat for $15 to $20 per hour per person (negotiating is accepted). You will see lots of wildlife along the banks of the Sarapiqui including the occasional cayman or crocodile, giant iguanas (the males turn orange during breeding time), lots of monkeys clamoring in the riverside trees, you may see a sloth or two and hundreds of exotic birds.
For both lunch or dinner, take your chances and stop anywhere along the way. The experience, good or bad, will be at least memorable. From Puerto Viejo head in the direction of Rio Frio for about forty kilometers (twenty-five miles) until you t- intersect with the busy Hwy.32. Turn right and start to climb the Cordillera Central over a mile vertically through scenic Braulio Carrillo National Park with dense vegetation, poor man's umbrellas, and endless waterfalls along the way, especially in the wet season.
Once you cross the continental divide and descend into San Jose, follow all signs directing you towards the airport to get to Adventure Inn.